Chinese dining table

Chapter 1255: Generosity

Li Si took his younger brother-in-law Yun Luan to Princess Taiping's residence in Chang'an to attend a banquet.

When she left, she did not forget to take her two furry poisonous dragons with her.

After dinner, Yun Chu didn't want to bother with Yu Xiurong any more. For some reason, this woman was so clingy now. She was already old, but she stayed on her husband all day long and didn't feel hot at all.

Yun Chu suggested that Yu Xiurong go play mahjong with Cui, Cui Yao, and Chunyu. Unexpectedly, this sentence angered Yu Xiurong. After kicking Yun Chu, she stormed out.

Yun Chu changed into a comfortable position and sat in the wide chair, reconsidering the role and significance of artillery and muskets in the political life of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor was very fond of artillery.

It might be because the earth-shaking scene during the artillery firing was too huge. Of course, the emperor still didn't know that in order to increase the visibility of the artillery bombardment, Yun Chu buried a lot of incendiary oil at the impact point.

Not only did the explosion cover a large area, but the flames shot up into the sky, making it look like a scene from hell.

The emperor didn't like the musket. Not only was the firing rate too slow, but it also always malfunctioned. In the emperor's opinion, it was not as good as a better archer. Therefore, Li Zhi thought that this thing was similar to a fire stick and was not willing to continue investing money in it.

A decree was specifically given to Yun Chu, requiring him to speed up the research on artillery, solve the problem of ammunition failure rate, and reduce the weight of artillery as much as possible... As for muskets, there was not a single word about them in the decree of more than 200 words.

Yun Chu had argued and told the emperor the importance of the musket, but the emperor pretended not to hear him, thinking that this might be Yun Chu's new way of asking him for money.

Later, Wenrou thought this was a good idea. If a cannon could attract the attention of the emperor, the prince, and the queen, it would be very beneficial for Chang'an's secret economic development.

Di Renjie also believed that the research progress of artillery should be accelerated to create a scene where a single shot could cause destruction for ten miles as soon as possible...

Nowadays, whether it is Yun Chu, Wen Rou who has entered Luantai as the second-in-command, or Di Renjie, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple in Luoyang, they can all be said to be in high positions and have great power.

People in high positions and with great power usually do most of the weighing of pros and cons, deciding which things are the basics that must be protected at all costs, which are the ones that can be discarded, and which ones are placed in the middle to be used as bargaining chips for exchanging interests.

What was beyond everyone's expectation was that whether it was Yun Chu, Wenrou, or Di Renjie, they all regarded the artillery as a bargaining chip to exchange interests.

On the contrary, they also classified the muskets as part of their base as permanent assets of their group.

The Tang Dynasty’s military was too powerful.

With artillery, the Tang army was the best in the world.

Even without artillery, the Tang Dynasty's army was still the strongest in the world.

Things like strengthening the army were rarely mentioned in the court of the Tang Dynasty. Although it was not to the point where weapons were put into storage and horses were released into the mountains, it was evident from the speed at which military merit was depreciating.

In the ninth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan reign, anyone who beheaded one of the people in the battle against the Aohu could at least become a village head when he returned home, and would be rewarded with three strings of money and two pieces of cloth.

Now, in the first year of Shangyuan, the Ministry of War awarded merits. There were more than 6,700 soldiers under his command who had accumulated heads of miscellaneous Hu people of level ten or above. After the reward was sent to the Ministry of Revenue, it was strongly pushed back. They believed that these were border soldiers who were killing innocent people to claim credit.

Among them, the most effective reason for refusal is, why do we only see beheadings but no spoils of war?
The people from the Ministry of War asked Yun Chu, the general of the garrison army, to speak for the border troops. Yun Chu naturally sided with the border troops and believed that as long as the soldiers had gains, the Ministry of Revenue should issue rewards in full. Not only should the rewards not be deducted, but they should also be increased. Only in this way could the border troops be able to concentrate on guarding the border for the Tang Dynasty.

As a result, Yun Chu's proposal was criticized by a group of officials as soon as it arrived in Luoyang. Countless censors and local officials wrote letters to impeach Yun Chu as a "soldier traitor", saying that the Tang Dynasty's border troops were now as fierce as tigers and wolves, and there were obviously no disobedient people on the border. The most outrageous thing those miscellaneous Hu people did was to exchange their cattle, sheep or prey for some goods with the Tang people. Often, they became traitors because they could not agree on the price.

He was then identified as a bandit by the border troops... and then they sent troops to suppress him, and finally he was awarded military merit.

The censors of the Censorate were still worried that Yun Chu would slander the emperor, so they collected two large boxes of hard evidence and sent them to Yun Chu. A censor with a dark complexion from Fengge opened the document and read it out regardless of whether Yun Chu was willing to listen or not... Even when he was dragged out by the servants of Wannian County, he recited at the top of his lungs, and every word was written with blood and tears.

Yun Chu knew that what they said was true without looking at the evidence.

Li Zhi has truly fulfilled the promise made by Emperor Taizong in his early years - any barbarians who dare to use weapons will be killed!

The civil servants in the court have already used the Enfeoffment Order to divide the large tribes into small tribes, and they plan to wait another ten years to divide the small tribes into villages and finally make them natural citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

This is their plan, to boil a frog in warm water, to make the tribes disappear in the long river of history without bloodshed. This method is correct and upright, and it is the way of the Holy King.

The military won’t do it…

Because his interests are outside the territory.

When the army returns home, they will return to their original state as farmers. Only when they are outside the territory, not subject to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, can they gather in groups and do whatever they want, killing people like hunting animals and robbing like cutting grass.

In the Dongyi, Western Regions, Southern Xinjiang, and Northern Barbarians, the people there regarded the Tang army as a ghost.

There was peace and prosperity in the Tang Dynasty, but outside the Tang Dynasty, it was a living hell.

An army without artillery and muskets is almost turning itself into a devil. If they are really equipped with artillery and muskets, there will be nothing in the world that they dare not do.

Therefore, the current Tang army is not in a hurry to improve its combat effectiveness, but should strengthen management to see if it is possible to transform the Tang army, this man-eating beast, into a real soldier.

However, as of now, there is not much hope. The original purpose of the Tang army was not to defend the country. They fought for their own interests, for their own future, for titles for their wives and children, and for immediate titles of nobility. The rest is not worth mentioning.

As of now, even the most powerful Chang'an soldiers have no concept of the people in their hearts. They only fight for Chang'an and to protect their own happy lives.

This task is definitely not something that Yun Chu can accomplish alone. It may take several generations, or it may never be corrected.

Reforms only occur when national power is on the decline. The Tang Dynasty today is like a scorching sun burning the world. Talking about military reform at this time is simply courting death.

In this situation, cannons and muskets can become Yun Chu's tools for political struggle.

Yun Chu didn’t know whether the current situation in the Tang Dynasty was a good thing or a bad thing.

Cooking oil with raging fire and dressing flowers in brocade clothes are not enough to describe the present-day Tang Dynasty.

In Yun Chu's opinion, the prosperity of Chang'an City and Luoyang City was even greater than that of Chang'an and Luoyang in later generations.

The world's materials, wealth, and talents have gathered in these two cities, making this time and space no longer in line with the times.

Two paved cities with a population of one million shone brilliantly in the dark night sky.

The cities that never sleep refer to these two cities.

Yun Chu’s brainstorming lasted for two full hours.

It was not until Yun Jin arrived that he opened his eyes tiredly.

"Someone died during the debate at Louguantai?"

Yun Jin replaced the tea for her father and said with a smile, "It's almost over."

"Can we decide the winner?"

Yun Jin shook his head and said, "They have no intention of deciding the winner. If I can kill Li Chunfeng, the Louguantai Conference will be a peaceful, victorious, and fruitful conference. By then, Buddhism and Taoism will work together to build the faith of the people of the Tang Dynasty."

Yun Chu took a sip of tea and said, "So, the expulsion of the pagans is about to begin?"

Yun Jin shook his head and said, "Taoism has thirty-three heavens, four great emperors, thirty-six heavenly generals, and seventy-two earthly demons. Buddhism has many bodhisattvas and five hundred arhats. Individual believers are different, so as long as we don't want a monotheistic religion, the rest can be accepted."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "Naha's presence in the Buddhist country in the Western Regions has made them think about a religious war, right?"

Yun Jin smiled and said, "There are only so many believers in the country, and they can no longer meet the number of believers required by Buddhism and Taoism. At this moment, apart from war, I can't think of any other way to make these two sects continue to prosper."

Yun Chu frowned and said, "Neither Master Xuanzang nor Immortal Sun are greedy people."

Yun Jin said: "Master Xuanzang has ascended to the altar and is revered by everyone. Immortal Sun has long since jumped out of the Three Realms and is no longer in the Five Elements. All worldly affairs have nothing to do with these two gods."

Yun Chu frowned and said, "If that's the case, then the only forces Li Chunfeng can rely on are those extra teachers?"

Yun Jin smiled and said, "I heard that Li Chunfeng deduced the "Tui Bei Tu". It is said that through this picture album, one can get a glimpse of the future, so he founded the Shen Ji Sect.

Nowadays, there are many people who have become Shen Ji's disciples, including some from outside the region."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "Hasn't the Tui Bei Tu, which he co-authored with Yuan Tiangang, been judged to be useless?"

Yun Jin smiled and said, "Aye, you mentioned the first and second drafts. The popular one now is the fifth draft. A lot of content has been added to the fifth draft, such as the Tibetans' exodus to the west, Liaodong's integration into the Tang Dynasty, and so on..."

Yun Chu sneered and said, "What kind of prophecy is this? As long as you keep adding major events, there will be such things in the Tang Dynasty. Not only in the Tang Dynasty, but also in the history books of every dynasty.

I was hoping that Li Chunfeng would become a strict scientist, but I didn't expect that he would return to the path of a charlatan. "

Yun Jin shook his head and said, "It should be involuntary. There are still many people in their faction. Even if Li Chunfeng doesn't want this to happen, those people will not let him give up."

Yun Chu stretched out his body lazily and said indifferently: "In the vibrant spring, it's not just the crops that are growing wildly, there are also wild flowers, weeds and bad poisonous weeds."

Yun Jin secretly looked at his father's face and whispered, "How about we cut the poisonous weeds first?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "No need. Even if it is a poisonous weed, it is something that grew on the fertile soil of the Tang Dynasty. Leave it to the people of the Tang Dynasty. Tell Li Chunfeng not to hide next time he sees me. I don't want to kill him.

I am old now, and I have the grace to tolerate others."

(End of this chapter)